The Biggest Troll Players in FPL History 

With Gameweek 37 still not fully in the books, providing advice for GW38 remains tricky. So we thought we’d take things a different route and look backwards instead. Today, we take a look at the biggest trolls in FPL history. 

You all know these players, the ones who seem great on paper. The profile is there, their team is playing well, they even had  a massive haul one game. So you bring them in, only for them to return absolutely nothing for 10 weeks. Until you inevitably transfer them out, only for them to haul again. Yes, those sorts of players. 

There is also the other flavour of troll which you just give far too much patience to, because in theory either the chances are there or they keep coming so close. Either way, these are the most infuriating players to own in FPL history. 

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Lucas Digne 

Where else would we go to kick off this list. Digne is one of FPL’s most infamously frustrating assets to own. All the ingredients are there, great club, solid player, set-pieces and occasional hauls. So what’s not to love? We can see why FPL players were drawn to him. 

Despite all this, for around the last 3 or 4 years, Digne would just be inexplicably benched, subbed or injured every single time a bit of hype around him would grow. Now this seems like an exaggeration but those who owned him will know. He would be playing well and haul, then like clockwork the second you bring him in, he would either not play or start playing badly.  

I would be lying if I said I had not fallen victim to the Digne trap on multiple occasions. 

 

Reece James 

My god, these are all bringing back some painful memories. Reece James is literally every FPL player’s worst nightmare. As far as the profile goes, he could not be better suited for FPL. Great player, Great team, super attacking, set-piece threat, great passer. What’s not to love?  

And that’s when it started…The injuries. 

I still remember the 2021/22 season, where he recorded a total of 5 goals and 9 assists and was absolutely electric. All off only 1,863 minutes of football. But that was the exact problem. Those 1,863 minutes are the 2nd most minutes he’s ever played in a premier league season.  

But often, it was not just injuries that were the problem, it was their timing. These injuries would come and go like a revolving door, making predicting them incredibly difficult, and meaning that quite often, he was straight back out your team as soon as he was in, and you’d burned 2 Free Transfers in the space of a week. Life would’ve been much easier if he wasn’t hauling when he did play. 

 

Dominic Calvert-Lewin 

I’ll just start off quickly with his form this season. You let me know if you notice anything. 

0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1. 

And it is exactly this that sums him up perfectly. You’d start the season off, maybe you’d have him as a cheap enabler and he’d blank 9/10 game weeks. So then obviously you’d sell him right? Who wouldn’t? He then went on a run of scoring 8 times in 10 gameweeks. Brilliant, so buy him back towards the back end of that right? He’d then go on a run where he scores only twice in 14 games. “Ok fine I’ll sell him”. Can’t believe i fell for it. Then right after you sell him, he then bangs 4 in 5 to close the season off. Brilliant.  

But that’s just this season. 

Those who have played FPL in the past know how frustrating this man could be. Real FPL players have been getting burned by him for 5+ years.  

His Everton days were incredibly frustrating. Like 2020/21, where he would finish on 16 goals and 6 assists. He would start the season off scoring 7 in his first 5 games. But because he was DCL and hadn’t scored in his final 10 games from the season before (Which is a whole other thing), you obviously didn’t start with him in your team. But that’s such good form that you bring him back and at first, he does ok, scoring 4 in 6. Not bad.  

But it’s that little hope that ends up costing you as it means you hold him for far too long. He then scores 2 goals in his next 15 games. But you held him because you remembered. 

This guy would go 6 games in a row of explosive scoring then 16 games of doing absolutely nothing. Also, if you couldn’t tell, I am a sufferer. 

 

Callum Wilson 

As a Newcastle fan this one carries extra pain. Wilson’s cycle was very similar to that of Reece James’. When he was fit, he would frequently haul for Newcastle, especially in some of our higher-flying seasons. The problem was, is that owning him was littered with these constant injuries. Nothing big enough to save you from getting hurt again, oh no. These would be constant one, two or even 3-week absences which would mean you were ready to get hurt again when some good fixtures came around. Just in time for you to be hurt again when he inevitably got reinjured.  

This one was definitely more personal for me, but I feel like I’m not alone in this. 

 

Darwin Nunez 

When Darwin arrived at Liverpool, I will happily admit I brought him straight in. Electric pace, prolific at Benfica, and joining one of the most high-powered attacks in Premier League history. Everything was there. 

Now what makes Nunez’s case special is that he was an absolute headcase for Analytics FC. This is in no small part down to all the chances he received. Naturally, playing for that Liverpool team saw him receive an abundance of chances, of which he famously squandered quite a lot.  

However, every now and then he would show little flashes of elite finishing and sharp work around the box, which would leave some managers constantly wanting to dive back in. What made these even more frustrating, is that often these would come off the bench or in random starts. So as if predicting his goals wasn’t hard enough, we now had to predict his minutes.  

His 1-point cameos would often rule managers out of solid bench points. But the xG was there. He was like a reverse Chris Wood. 

 

Emmanuel Dennis 

Now this one was more an induvial moment than an entire legacy, as his FPL repertoire is quite good. Dennis’ 2021/22 Watford season was one marked by elite production, as he provided 10 goals and 8 assists. All at a price point of under £6m. Naturally this led to massive ownership for the Nigerian, especially coming into DGW23. This was the first DGW of the season and Dennis’ form had been excellent. Registering 7 returns in the 7 games prior.  

Plenty even Triple Captained him, given the fixtures were against Burnley and Norwich. What happened next is FPL folklore, as Dennis would go on to be red carded in game 1 and subsequently register a –2 for those who captained him. As opposed to the mega haul everyone anticipated. 

 

Honourable Mentions: 

• Leroy Sane Triple Captain disaster. 

• Michail Antonio’s hot starts into cold streaks. 

• Mahrez’s Pep roulette. 

• Timo Werner’s xG but terrible finishing. 

• Joao Pedro’s inconsistencies. 

• Wilfred Zaha only hauling when no one owned him. 

• Nicolas Jackson. 

• Morgan Rogers new age trap. Only hauls in bad fixtures. 

• Ismaila Sarr 

• Allan Saint-Maximim 

• Josh King 

 

Can you think of anymore? 

 

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